Why Cybersecurity is Important in the Healthcare Sector

By CIOReview | Thursday, October 3, 2019

FREMONT, CA: There is not a single industry that is immune to hacking. However, among all other sectors, the one which is mostly attacked by hackers is the healthcare industry. This has increased the importance of cybersecurity in the healthcare sector.

With the advent of technology, the healthcare sector has to heavily depend on the new tools and software to cure their patients. The software is also vital for sharing, storing, and retrieving essential data about various diseases and the affected patients. Now, with the recent multiple cyber attacks on the hospitals and other medical facilities, it has become imperative for every organization to prevent it by investing in better solutions. Healthcare sector's fight against cybercrime with proper machines and software will not only help them save many lives but also a lot of money that they can lose due to cyber attack.

1. Efficient Cure is the Key

In the past, the physicians couldn't provide more time for their patients as there was more paperwork, which was not only complicated but also time-consuming. During this era, doctors had to do all the paperwork manually, for which there was limited time for them to listen to the problems of their patients and advise them accordingly.

Now, with time, the population of the world is increasing rapidly and manually handling the healthcare data has become difficult for physicians. Therefore, to make the task more convenient for doctors, hospitals have started using the cloud-based and databases systems for storing the healthcare data. The valuable data have made it more critical to secure the database and networks from cyberattacks so that healthcare organizations can work efficiently.

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2. Cyber-Security Saves the Healthcare Industry Millions of Dollars

In the past few decades, the healthcare industry has grown so fast that the doctors have become more competent and can deal with more patients in an eight-hour shift rather than using a twelve-hour shift. The change was possible because of technology, which reduced the physical effort of the doctors and other employees over there.

The cloud-based and internal computer system technology has helped the healthcare providers to share information easily with their colleagues, patients, other departments, and other necessary authorities.

3. It is Important for the Patients

The healthcare sector must protect the personal information of the patients because the hackers can leak them, and other thieves can use them to conduct medical fraud and other financial gains. Cybersecurity helps in keeping the information of the patient confidential for legal purposes and also prevent cybercrimes.

4. Leaked Patients' Information can be Costly

The healthcare systems should have excellent cybersecurity as it prevents the patients' information from leaking. If such vital details get disclosed from the boundaries of a hospital, the cost of law proceedings can spell the end of that organization. Moreover, leaking patients details will also bring a bad reputation to the hospital, and patients will be reluctant to go back.

Technology has its own set of benefits which can be advantageous not only for the hospitals but also for the treatments. Better security will help doctors fight cyber threats, while also helping them provide better treatment to the patients and also share patient data among other healthcare entities without any trouble.